Diving the Indian Ocean. Ahhh.
Back in my element. The fourth is the best!!
After exploring India and Nepal,,, looping back to Dubai to retrieve my Dive Gear… it’s time for a circuit thru the East-African Indian Ocean. Three tropical islands.
Paradise Island hopping. Someone needs to…. I volunteer.
For the first time since 2019.. flights are plentiful between these remote and interesting islands. Seychelles is first up.. My favorite of the three.
And wow, it delivered. I select Baeu Vallon as my home-base here, a small town on the Northwest coast of Seychelles main island (Mahe). Landing at the Seychelles airport was easy…once I figured out their ‘heath entrance app’ (back in Dubai airport) … that was a stressful hassle – life of a traveler ☹
Renting a car here is a must!! Driving on the left, along winding mountain roads – such fun…. The roads are well maintained.. so its easy.. and traffic is light. But get ready for round abouts, and steep mountain roads.
Mahe and other Seychelles island rise dramatically fromm the ocean. Volcanic islands. With the steep mountains very-near the ocean shoreline. The roads are winding switch-backs or ring-roads circling the island. Dense tropical forests everywhere. It’s a jungle paradise. With just 100k people in all of Seychelles 115 islands combined, it’s an uncrowded – casual vibe. It captures the idea of island life. I feel at home here.
I’m diving straight away. With Adventure Blue Vision.. they are a fantastic dive center. A dozen dives, each was outstanding (although expensive!). Penty of Macro Life.. but Chinese over fishing takes a toll on the bigger fish. I did get some great photos, and some good video!!! The weather and dive conditions where spot-on.
And I loved loved diving again. It’s been 2-months .. I’ve been missing it!!
The environment of Seychelles is a treat. Quality people. A mix of Creole/French/English. Everyone speaks English,,,,but French is always in the air.
…So is Russian. Like I found in Maldives, 50% of the tourists here are from Russia … Hiding I think – kinda strange at first, but it becomes normal.
Not only was the diving good. But I add in a cool Jungle hike. In a rainforests.. I wish I had more time,,,, there are 5-6 more hikes I’d love to do. One particular hike up Copolia Trail is first-rate. Make sure to check out the carnivorous Pitch plants,,evolution of plants eating bugs for lunch – amazing!! And the views from the peak are drop-dead gorgeous.
I found a welcoming, high-quality hotel in Seychelles. B Holiday Hotel. The owners are amazing and became quick friends!!
One night I return after dinner… limping back to the parking lot with a flat tire. I’m just getting started changing it… tire out, jack under the car… when the owner and his son come out… jumping into action to help. It ended up being a difficult project.. as the tire did not want to come off…it was rusted onto the wheel well.
Eventually after some WD40, success!! But without them.. I was in trouble!!! The hosts and their hotel are top shelf people. I’ll definitely return here if in Seychelles again.
One very-cool detail of visiting Seychelles is seeing their Aldabra Giant Tortoises. They have thousands. Some at hotels, some owned by private citizens, and a whole island where they wander freely. I track them down at their Botanical Garden. Photo time!!!
My interest in these tortoises is particularly unique. Having visited Galapagos earlier this year,,seeing their Giant Tortoise species ,,,,, I now see the Giant Tortoise of Seychelles. Galapagos to Seychelles. Few people can share that bookend experience!!! I’m chasing Darwin’s Ghost.
My time here flew by. Diving, finding restaurants, visiting Victoria (Seychelles capital), hiking. I liked everything about this visit. Next-time, I’ll try to get to the out-islands.. they have ferries to several – with more diving and even fewer people!! My kind of paradise.
Onward!!
Jumping to famous Mauritius is next. Mostly an Indian and French dominated culture. But like Seychelles – everyone speaks English. I rent a car again,,,but here I’m shocked by the roads. Miles and miles of them – everywhere. Divided highways, high-speed round abouts. Mauritius has 1.2million people.. making it the second highest density of people in all of Africa. Who knew ?
I settle in a Grand Baie. On the Northwest corner of Mauritius.
Get ready for Google Maps when driving here …… ‘in 600m, take the 3ed exit from the round about’ …. They must have more round abouts than anywhere on the planet !!! All in all – a good road system.
One free day I explore the capital city of Port Louis. Darwin visited here!!
This city is packed with cars, people and buildings. It has a ‘real’ downtown, with a few 20 story buildings, banks & offices. I visit the tourist port district for an expresso and a museum. Its worth a trip into the ‘big’ city,,just to get another vibe of Mauritius.
I had great success everywhere in Mauritius with finding quality food. Again, like everything here – its an expensive place. Food, hotels – all expensive.
The strangest thing to learn of Mauritius is the demographics of its people. People of Indian ancestry are 50-60+% of the population; Hindi is spoken everywhere. I had no idea. Crazy factoid. If they aren’t Indian,,,,they are mostly French. Like Seychelles, I was the only American anywhere!!!
Mauritius is nothing like the vibe of Seychelles…. Huge and busy vs. Seychelles small and calm… And its geography is also very different.. dramatically beautiful … (it that is possible,,,Seychelles is gorgeous also).
This is a much much larger island than I realize!! Most of it is flat farm-land, growing sugar cane… but sprinkled over the island – in the distance.. are views of soring mountain peaks. The green of the farmland, with the backdrop of the mountains… all by a gorgeous coast line.. Wow, Mauritius is eye-candy. No wonder its famous.
I was focused on diving… but my diving here started with a bump. My booked dive-shop canceled out,,their boat is being repaired. So,,,,I randomly walked next-door to my hotel in Grand Baie and luck into a great little shop. Panorama Divers… with outstanding owners. Diving, photography, views of Gunners Quoin Nature Reserve … I loved every minute with this dive shop. And as a coincidence,,the owner is an acquaintance to a dive friend back home in Orlando, Florida. Small world sometimes 😊
Squeezing in one big day of adventure at the close of my visit… I drive to the far south. Visiting the high mountains, the 100m waterfall at Chamarel, the Chamarel Geo Park with its 7-colored soil, Alexander Waterfall.
All Definitely a must do’s on Mauritius ..… I only got in a short hike in their Black River Gorge NP,, but it was a perfect adventure day.
I changed up my hotel plan at the end of this Mauritius trip.. adding a night near the airport. It is well over an hour from the north of the island to the airport… so with an early flight… it was worth wasting a hotel night. I’ll watch out for that next-time!!
Onward again…. Next up … le Reunion Island.
With a short 1-hour flight,, I’m in Reunion. 600km east of Madagascar.
About the same size as Mauritius, but with a smaller population of 800k. Reunion is full-on French. I rent a car again; but here …. its driving on the Right – like home. Time to retrain my brain to not turning on the wipers at every turn.
I find my way to the west-coast of this Indian Ocean island. On a high-quality expressways … NO round abouts… (thankfully) … to St. Leu. A beach town, with dive shops and expresso café’s near by.
But,,,luck is not on my side for diving. The rains have rocked the sea’s. 10 foot rollers clause all the dive shops to cancel. I have only scheduled 5 days here – just a short stop ..… not enough time to ride out the storm for diving…. Ahh, too bad. But then, Reunion is not particularly known for good diving….but I won’t be able to confirm or denign… Dives canceled!!
Parts of Reunions’ coastline reminds me of Rarotonga. (Cook islands - main island). A ring of breakwater 100m off the beaches/rocks.
Other parts, more like Californian Big Sur - with Rough-seas and crashing waves coming directly to the shore-line. None of the sea views look very good for reefs..…or diving. The entire center of the island is high mountains.. everyone lives along the coastline… even there, the houses are up along the rising slopes.
Very small areas near the coast are flat, so the volume of farmlands here is a fraction of Mauritius farmlands.
Interesting how different the geography and culture each of these three islands.
I only arranged 5 days in Reunion. And only see blue sky the day of my arrival. The remaining visit was filled with rain and clouds. Unfortunately, with the dive-shops canceled…. I was limited in my exploration of this island.
So in Reunion, I just explore what I can… Take in the French vibe. Use Euro’s. This a first-world island. Outstanding divided highways, restaurants everywhere, very safe, it’s a luxury French Holiday in the Indian Ocean.
With extra free time; I arrange Onward travel, catchup on Blogs and reading….get a haircut. Not-so bad really,, I need downtime as I travel the planet… Time to breathe. Connect with home.. Edit photos.
Curious fact; Reunion is an official part of the EU, and the only part of the EU in the Southern Hemisphere.
So, no diving … but I explored the mountain peaks. They where like a mini-French Alpes. Beautiful Cascades, and jungle mountains. Definitely a surprise to see on this small island.
I gain misjudge the size of an island. My hotel is a 2 hour drive to the airport… And I have an early departure to Madagascar .... So, I decide to waste one night in St. Leu,, and book an extra night in St. Denis – near the Reunion airport.
Return another car. Checkin at the airport…
Onward.
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